Magazine for a magnetic tape recorder/reproducer



F. LAA ETAL Feb. 16, 1965 MAGAZINE FOR A MAGNETIC TAPE RECORDER/REPRODUCER Filed Dec. 1, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 [NVENTOR FRIEDRICH LAA FRIEDRICH LOUZIL Feb. 16, 1965 F. LAA ETAL 3,

MAGAZINE FOR A MAGNETIC TAPE RECORDER/REPRODUCER Filed Dec. 1, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FRIEDRICH L AA FRIEDRICH LOUZ IL AGEN Feb. 16, 1965 F. LAA ETAL 5 MAGAZINE FOR A MAGNETIC TAPE RECORDER/REPRODUCER Filed Dec. 1, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 If T l,/ 35 27 5' 4, 27 35 i6 INVENTOR FRIEDRICH LAA FRIEDRICH LOUZIL MAGAZINE FOR A MAGNETIC'TAPE' RECORDER/REPRODUCER Friedrich Laa and Friedrich. Louzil, Vienna, Austria, assignors to North American Philips Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 156,275 Claims priority, application Austria, Dec. 9,1960, 9,204/60 12 Claims. (Cl.'242-'-55.13)

The invention, relates to a magazine or casing for a tape-shaped record carrier and in particular a casing for a-single-spool of tape, having an opening in a side wall forthe inlet or outlet of the tape, the tape being provided with an extension, which can be grasped by driving means.

In known devices of this kind the tape is wound on a spool or winding core, to which one end of the tape is secured sov that during the winding-off operation the tape is not detached from the core, thus after a recording 01 reproducing operation the tape can be rewound. In some known cases no measures at all have been taken to prevent the free end of the tape, during rewinding, from passing through the opening provided in the side wall of the casing so that it disappears in the magazine.

In other known cases an extension has been provided at the free end of the tape by means of which the tape is secured to a take-up or winding member, so that the supply can be wound off. The extension is broader or thicker than.the tapeto which it is secured, and the sectional. area of the opening in themagazine is chosen sothat the tape but not the extension can pass therethrough. During the rewinding operation therefore the extension cannot disappear: in the magazine. However,

the known arrangements do not at all guarantee that the;

tape will, not emerge accidentally from the magazine, and become damaged. In order to avoid this danger it has been proposed to provide brakes in the magazine for the spool core,1which brakes remain operative as long as the magazine is not used i .e. is not arranged on a suitable apparatus. It has furthermore been proposed to provide closing flaps or a slide at the opening of the magazine in order to hold the tape inside the magazine.

In accordance with the invention in a magazine of the aforementioned type, the lateral opening of the casing is formed as a channel extending tangentially with respectto the spool space and suitable for guiding the tape extensions; andcommunicating with this channel is at least one passage extending in a longitudinal direction.

A blade, spring ;is'arranged in the longitudinal directionof the passage, one end of which is fixed in the side wall remote from the external channel opening, whereas. the other, or free end of the spring, is located in the proximity ofthe external channel opening. At a given distancefrom the freeend of this spring a bend or an extenv United States Patent movementof said spring provision is made of a stationary.

the magazine. The external channel .wall may be formed partly by. only-two smallribs each on the upper and the lower channel wall and the width of the spring may be smaller than the distance between said ribs, the width of the spring gradually decreasing towards the free end. In the case of asubstantially square shape of the magazine, one side wall thereof may constitute at the same time the external channel wall and the side wall of the magazine in which the channel ends may be sloped.

. In, a particular, "further embodiment of the magazine the use of flange spools with one or more orthogonal cuts extending fromthe flange edges to the spool core with slanting sides is rendered possible by providing in the magazine, on either side of the internal channel opening, stationary wall portions closing. completely the spool space in lateral direction, while the spring forms part'ofth'e lateralfboundary of the spool space between the said wall parts. With this embodiment, in particular, the extensions of the tape-are constructed in the form of wedges extending in the axial direction of the tape and hav n a Width equal to that of the tape, the thick end of the wedge having on each side widened parts preferably formed by readily rotatable rollers, while the tape is secured, forexa'mple by adhesion, to one of the faces of the edgeof the wedge, this Wedge face being prolonged beyond the thicker wedge part bymeans of a thin, preferably wedge-shaped plate. It is advantageous to construct the thicker end of thewedge so that it has two laterally extending recesses, which preferably do not extend to the wedge face to which the tape is secured while the .width of the spring part lying in the proximity of the passage of the external channel wall is preferably made smaller thanthe width of the wedge body between the recesses. It is advantageous toarrange the shaft of the rollers, in-the case of a tangential arrangement of the two wedge facesto therollers, inside the recesses so that a space 'is left behind therollers by the provision of a smaller diameter of the rollers at least inside the recesses.-It is furthermore advantageous to provide a recessed part in the back face of the thicker wedge part,

said recessed part corresponding to the projecting shape of the bend of the spring. 7

The shape of the magazine according to the invention obviates the disadvantages of the devices hitherto known. It is ensured, by a minimum of trouble-that the outer end of a tape coil;can neither disappear in the magazine nor can freely emerge therefrom. The magazine according to the invention has furthermore, in particular,

the advantage that many variations and embodiments are possible, so that the possibilities of use are particularly great. The structure of the parts in accordance with the invention provides highly different embodiments,

which are particularly capable of matching the special requirements of practice. For. example, a detachable or a fixedconnection onv the tape to the spool core or an embodiment may be. used, at will, in which. a tape intro duced into the magazine is automatically secured to r the spool core.

The invention will now be described more fully with referencejto the drawings. However, the invention is not restricted to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 of the drawing is a plan view of one half of the casing of 'a magazine according to the invention witha flange spool arranged therein.

IGS. la and lb are sectional views of the device shown in FIG. 1 taken on the lines A A and B-B.

ing. If the casing had a circular. shape,1the channel had to be provided on the outer side. In order .to render the 7 inside of the channel accessible also from the outer casing walllfi, the said wall has apassage or slot 21 .extending i in the longitudinal direction up 'to l the external channel opening 18 (see FIG. b). In the proximity of the passage 21 only two small ribs 22 on the upper 'andthe lower FIG; 2 is a plan view of part o f -one half of a casing.

comprising'a blade spring-shaped in accordancewith theinvention. T It r V FIG. 3a isa side elevation of a-Jmodified blade spring according to the invention.

FIG. 3b is a plan viewof FIG. 3a..-

FIG. 4a. is a side elevational view ofa particular tape extension according to the invention.

the bl' de spring according to '1 FIG. 4b is a plan view of the tape extension illustrated in FIG. 4a.

FIG. Se is a plan view of part of one half of a magazine illustrating-the arrangement of the blade spring according to. FIG. 3a and the tape extension of FIG. 4a with a magazine.

FIG. 5b is a bottom view of the magazine accordingto FIG. 5a.

preferably bent over slightly to the outer side.

channel'wall respectively are left of the side wall 16. I

In order to close the channel provision is made of an elongated member or spring 23 (FIG. 2). 2 One end 24 of the spring 23 is fixed inline with the side wall 16 v of the channel. The free end .25 protrudes forwardly inside the channel 15 and has a bend 26, which substantially closes thechannelf The outer end of the spring is In order to secure the end 24 of the spring in the casing, each half of the casing of the embodimentshownhas=a depression:

FIG. 6 is a plan view of part of one half of a magazine 7 having a spring and a spool as shown in FIG. 5a, however with an extension as shown in FIG. 4a at the, beginning of a tape. 7 i

The magazine casing'in the embodiments shown com-f prises two box-shaped-halves, one being thereflection of a casing for example by means of: screws or the like, openings 6a and 6b are provided. The openings 7a and 7b serve for accommodating guide pins or the like, which determine the position, of the casing when it is arranged on a recorder/reproducer or driving member.

. In such a casing spools of different shapes may be rotatably arranged in several ways. The embodiment shows a spools, which has, on the flanges 9, annular extensions 11 for a course centering in openings 10 'ofthe casing and central openings 12 for an accurate centering on a'spool disc. The space occupied by the spool in the box is limited on the side by cylindrical wall portions-13. The wall portions 13 limit this, space only to the height of the'flanges 9, i.e. do not extend between the flanges. Thus in the event 'of disturbances in the winding-up member, the tape-'may form loose loops between the flanges of :the spool but the loops 'do not enter into' the space between the interior sides of the casing and the spool space but are not required fora magazine according to the invention in its simplest fornm. The purpose 7 thereof will be explained more fully hereinafter.

A channelilS' is arranged tangentially to the space occupied by thespool 8, this channel leading to the'spool space inside the casing. On the top side land on the bot tom side thisv channel is limited by thebo ttom and the lid 1 of the casing; the outer iwall 15 isformed by the side 27'between the wall portion 'l laand the side wall portions 5, 16. The depth of'the depression 21' is equal to halt" the widthof the'spring. The end 2410f the spring may,- of course, be fixed in a difierent'way.

FIGZ shows how anextension 28, provided at the end of a tape 29, and liable to be drawn into the magazine, when the tape is wound up on the s'pool-in'the magazine,

is preventedby the spring 23 not only from entering'rthe' spool space but also from getting out of the channellS.

' When the extension 28 enters the channel 15, which is facilitated by the slightly bent-over end of the spring, the. spring 23 is urged forwards and thus stressed, so that the spring urges the extension against the rear channel wall 17. Further movement of the extension to the interior is prevented by the bend.26. V

In the rest position the spring 23 leaves a free slot, in. front of the channel wall 17, for the unhinderedpassage oi the tape. in the embodiment shown the extensi'onhas' an apprdxiniatelysquare shape. The size of the extension corresponds withthat ofthe channel, so that the walls oi extension of the tape can be efiectively grasped, Whil the extension is prevented from penetrating into the casing or from emerging'from the; channel atfan inconve 'f instant. It isunimportant in this case how-the innef fi of the tape is secured or how the spool is' constructed: a

' By. a more accurate shape, particularly of the spring,

wall 5 ofthe casing. The side wall 17; on the rear side is 1 provided separatelyin the casing. Theich'ann'el opening 18 in the embodiment shown is not provided-directly in the side wall 4 of the casing, but in an oblique portion 19.

the latter'constitiitea guide for the extension.

Through the passageor slot 21 an extension 28 in this'cas'e. 'As' is particularly indicated in the embodi m'entof FIG. 5b the width of the spring 23 must be.

smaller-than the width of the passage 21; IWitll a difier? entlyshaped gripper the spring may be wider-than the passage, while the spring is provided with a longitudinal cut, so that two tags are formed. 'A further possibilityc n sists in that the channel and the extension have such a.

length that the extension can be grasped in front of the endof the spring; the operation isth en completely independent of the width of'the spring. In all those cases the.

but also of certain parts of the magazinethe device may be further improved and the domainof' use maybe (em I larged. If the spring is shaped in the formshown FIG;

2, there must not be a; particular .biasor movement of the spring towards the interior, since otherw'ise the spring would force the tape against the channel ,Wall 17 during" the winding-hp or winding-ofl operations." Thus the spring holds an extension 28 in 'the 'channelonly by meansthe force determined by the spring deformation. Some- 'times 'this force will not be too sinall and will remain act tive, when the extension has to be removed-from the channel. It is therefore more advantageous to provide a located, in the channel'15 can be grasped from the side 16. Thus I bias of the spring towards the internal channel 17, while in the travel of the extension provision is made of a stationary stop, which limits the movement in the direction of the bias so that the tape can travel along the wall 17 without being pressed thereagainst. To this end the free end of the spring 24, as is indicated in FIG. 2 by broken lines, may be bent over so that, in the rest position of the spring, the reversed end engages the external channel wall 16, which constitutes the stop in this case. The bend 26 of the spring must have a steep side towards an extension 28. However, a steep projection cannot be obtained easily with flexible material. It is therefore efficacious to form this extension on the spring by a body, for example of a synthetic substance applied by spraying.

This body may, as an alternative, be formed so that it constitutes at the same time the part abutting against the stop (FIG. 3). Thus the pressure exerted on a tape extension lying in the channel may be chosen very high. It is, of course, efficacious to provide that this pressure is completely obviated or at least strongly reduced, when the magazine is employed, i.e. when the magazine is arranged on an apparatus.

In a practical embodiment of the general measure described above the spring 23 is provided, as will be seen from FIG. 3, with a body 31 of a synthetic substance, which has a step shaped face edge 32 on the side of the bend 26, the said step shaped edge forming a sharply projecting part.

When the tape extension is adapted to the shape of the said edge, the extension can be prevented with certainty from entering the casing. The face 33 of the part 31 facing the spool space is provided with milling for reasons to be described hereinafter. The hook-like extension 34 of the part 31 engages, in the rest position of the spring, the side wall 5 of the casing. For fixing purpose the spring 23 is supported only at the place indicated by the arrow (FIG. 3a), whereas it is secured at the end 35. To this end the groove 27, described above, (FIG. 1) provided in the casing between the wall portion 14a and the side Wall 5 of the magazine, is shaped so that a supporting bearing 36 is formed, which corresponds to the spring portion indicated by the arrow. The openings 7b have a larger diameter at the upper part 37 for accommodating the semi-circular end 35 of the spring. Between the fixpoint thus obtained and the supporting hearing or fulcrum 36 the spring is free and by providing the recess 3% in the side wall 5 of the magazine the spring is accessible from outside the magazine. When the spring i urged to the inner side at recess 38, which may take place automatical- 1y by means of a pin 38a (FIG. 5a) when the device is arranged on an apparatus, the pressure exerted by the body 31 on a tape extension 28 in the channel is completely obviated, when all further parts are chosen as stated above. The free end of the spring is again slightly bent over to the outer side.

As stated above, the magazine according to the invention may be constructed so that for the automatic establishment of a detachable connection of the end of a tape to a spool core it is sufiicient to insert this end of the tape into the magazine. To this end use is made of a flange spool in the magazine, these flanges having one or more recesses extending radially from the edge to the spool core and having slanting edges. Such a recess 44 which forms a passage is indicated in the spool 8 of FIG. 1. An extension, extending in its direction of width sideways beyond the relative distance between the flanges of the spool, is carried along, after its introduction into one of the recesses, when the spool is turned and shifted towards the spool core and held at this position. The magazine has the aforesaid stationary wall portions 14a and 14b, which completely close the spool space on either side of the internal channel opening the spring 23 is shaped in a form such that it constitutes parts of the lateral boundary of the spool space, between the wall portions 14a and 14b (FIG. 5). Thus the tape extension, when it has passed by the bend 26 and when the passage 40 is not lying just behind the channel opening 20, is first urged against the flange. edge and finally, when the spool is turned, introduced into the passage 40. It is particularly advantageous to use a spool in which the hook shaped flange parts 41 serving for capturing the tape extension are fixed to the Wall portions 14 by enlarging the radius of the flanges at portion 41.

In principle, by withdrawing the spring 23 to the outer' side, any tape extension can be introduced into the internal channel opening 20. However, it is more advantageous to provide particularly shaped tape extensions which do not require a special withdrawal of the spring. Therefore the tape extension used is a mainly wedge-shaped body, the sharp edge of which can penetrate between the spring 23 and the wall 17 to an extent such that the thicker end, to which the tape is secured, is urged by the spring 23 inside the channel opening 20 against the flange edges. When the spool is turned in the direction of the hookshaped parts 41, the extension is taken along by these projecting parts and conveyed to the spool core in the manner described above. a

If the magazine has to meet the severest requirements, the shape of the tape extension must fulfil the following conditions. The extension must have a shape such that it can be easily and safely grasped by a gripper for inserting it into a channel opening or for removing it therefrom; it must be prevented, when a tape is rewound, from ever disappearing into the magazine. The tape must be fixable easily and safely to the extension and the friction between the tape extension and the flange edges of a rotating spool must be minimized.

The extension fulfilling all these conditions is shown in FIGS. 4:: and 4b. The body proper is formed by a wedge portion 42, for example of a synthetic substance, of which the edge 43 is located in the plane of the tape 29. The

width of the wedge 42 and of the edge 43 thereof is equal to the width of the tape. In order to secure the tape, for example by adhesive, the thicker end of the wedge is 1pro vided with a thin, also wedge shaped plate 44, so that the wedge face 45 is prolonged to the rear. On a shaft 46, extending parallel to the wedge edge two rollers 47 are readily rotatable so that the rollers extend into the plane of the wedge face 45. If the particular shape of the embodiment shown is not chosen, also the second wedge face 48 should extend into the plane of the rollers 47. The diameter of the rollers 47 exceeds the distance between the edges of the flanges 9 and the wall portions 14a and 14b. The height ofthe wedge and of the rollers together is equal to the distance between the outer flange faces plus the play between the spool and the bottom and the lid of the magazine. The topmost and the lowermost wall of the channel 15, as stated above, are formed by the bottom and the lid of the magazine; the internal distance between the wall 17 and the wall 16 or the ribs 22 is equal to the diameter of the rollers. The thicker end of the Wedge body is provided with two recesses 49, so that the width of the wedge body is reduced. The recesses 49 do not extend to the surface 45. The rollers have a smaller diameter on their sides facing the wedge. The radius is chosen so that the roller portion having the smaller diameter extends to the plane of the second wedge face 48. The rear face 51 of the wedge is concave, so that the bend 26 of the spring 23, particularly when it protrudes to the front (see FIG. 3a) can by no means he passed by, when the wedge iplenetrates into the channel with this concave face 51 It is particularly advantageous to provide the recesses 49 and to shape the spring 23 so that the width of the spring portion in the proximity of the passage 21 in the outer side wall 16 of the channel is smaller than the width of the wedge body in the proximity of the recesses 49, irrespective of the fact whether the wedge, in front of the recesses, is widened by rollers or by stationary parts. A fork-shaked gripper (not shown) can, owing to these recesses, be slipped not only behind the thicker end of the.

3,160,721 9 10 large diameter portion and a reduced diameter portion, 2,963,940 12/ 60 Raabe 206 52 X and a lateral recess in said body portion receiving said reduced diameter portion of said rollers.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,837,332 6/58 Busch 24255.19

SEPH P. STRIZAK, Examiners.

3,006,650 10/61 Ellmore 24255.l3

5 RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER, JO- I 

1. A MAGAZINE FOR A MAGNETIC TAPE HAVING AT LEAST ONE EXTENSION MEMBER ATTACHED THERETO AT THE OUTER END THEREOF COMPRISING A CASING MEMBER HAVING A SPACE THEREIN FOR RECEIVING A ROTATABLE SPOOL ADAPTED TO COIL AND UNCOIL MAGNETIC TAPE, MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CASING FOR DEFINING A LATERAL INWARDLY EXTENDING CHANNEL SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENTIAL TO SAID SPACE, SAID CHANNEL BEING DIMENSIONED TO ALLOW SAID EXTENSION TO PASS FREELY THERETHROUGH, AN ELONGATED MEMBER OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH SAID CASING HAVING A MOVABLE PORTION PROJECTING INTO SAID CHANNEL FOR PREVENTING PASSAGE THROUGH SAID CHANNEL OF AN EXTENSION TRAILING TAPE ENTERING SAID CASING, SAID EXTENSION AND MOVEABLE PORTION OF SAID ELONGATED MEMBER BEING CONFORMED FOR MOVING SAID MOVABLE PORTION FOR ALLOWING PASSAGE THROUGH SAID CHANNEL OF AN EXTENSION LEADING TAPE TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID CASING. 